For many medical applications it is important that tubes, such as catheter or surgical drain tubes, are securely attached relative to a patient. The consequences of accidental movement of such a tube can range from discomfort (for example in the case of small peripheral vein catheters) to fatal trauma (for example in the case of main line catheters).
A typical method used to secure a catheter is to use a plastic base which includes two apertures and a holding clip for a catheter tube and to sew or suture the base to the patient, using a needle and thread by passing the needle through the apertures and through the skin and/or other tissue of the patient. This is a relatively complex and time consuming operation and is prone to error. For example the thread may be sewn too tight, causing unnecessary tissue damage or too loose, resulting in an inadequately secured catheter. Furthermore, there is a significant risk of needle stick injuries, which are a serious health hazard due to the widespread existence of diseases which are transmissible via bodily fluids.
One approach to avoiding needle stick injuries has been to dispense with the use of sutures and to secure a base of an attachment device to the skin of a patient using an adhesive. However, this approach does have accompanying disadvantages. The adhesive may inadequately fix the catheter, or be effective for only an inadequately short time. Hair on the skin and/or occurrence of perspiration may result in a significant loss of adhesion, or the adhesive may suffer from reduced adhesion over time due to oils excreted by the skin, or other factors. The adhesive may intrinsically provide inadequate adhesion. If a very strong adhesive is used, removal of the attachment device may result in tearing the skin. The adhesive may provoke an irritant and/or allergic reaction as may a cleaning agent (typically benzoin or tinc benz) used to clean the skin prior to application of the adhesive.
Known attachment devices have employed various means for securing the medical tube to the attachment device, but at least some such means are less than optimally convenient in use. For example, some such devices do not allow convenient attachment and release of the tube when the attachment device is securely attached to the patient, and some require the use of separate elements which must be attached to the tube prior to securing the tube to the main part of the attachment device.
There is therefore a need for an improved, or at least alternative, attachment device and method for use in securing catheter tubes and/or other medical devices to a patient.